Fall victim ‘Cookie’ to be honoured at memorial festival

Paul Cook

A popular barman who died in Hemel Hempstead town centre is being remembered by his family and friends at a charity memorial event.

Paul Cook, known as ‘Cookie’, fell from the rooftop of the town’s B&M store during a night out. He was just 24 years old.

A year on from the tragic accident, ‘Cookie Fest’ is being held on Saturday, September 20 – the weekend which would have marked his birthday.

The event takes place at the the Red Lion pub in Nash Mills, Hemel Hempstead.

Melanie Parr of ‘Team Cookie’, helping to organise the event, said: “Paul was a popular man who lived for the moment and always wanted to see everyone enjoying themselves and so his family and friends have rallied together to put on this day festival to honour him and have a day filled with activities fit for everyone to enjoy.

“This event has taken a lot of hard work from all involved and we are really excited to be able to honour Paul in this way.

“All we want is to have a packed out festival with everyone there enjoying themselves and hopefully raising a lot of money for a good cause because we feel that is what he would have wanted.”

The festival features the tagline ‘What would Cookie do?’, as proceeds will go towards Dacorum homelessness charity DENS in honour of Paul’s ‘generous’ character.

From 1pm to 7pm on the day there will be a host of family-friendly activities, including games, face painting, a bouncy castle and balloon release. In the evening the festival will turn into a grown-ups party featuring comedians, a UV silent disco, a silent auction and UV body painting.

Visit cookie-fest-2014.eventbrite.co.uk to book tickets at £6 for the day or night, or £10 to attend both.